Review: Nye (Olivier Theatre)

Review by Sam Waite

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When I first saw Tim Price’s Nye, a play following the life of NHS founder Aneurin Bevan, I was left with one unanswered question: Why, near the end of act one, did Michael Sheen and the ensemble cast break into a rousing, fully choreographed rendition of “Get Happy”? Watching this returning production little more than a year later, I understood this choice more, but also found myself too taken with the performance to cling to lingering questions.

Back in the National's Olivier Theatre, Nye finds its titular figure in what will be the final days of his life, cared for by doctors and nurses within the system he was instrumental in building. As the meds take hold and the passage of time moves out of focus, the ward around him transforms into representations of Nye’s childhood, his forays into union politics, and his eventual role as Minister for Health.

Rufus Norris’ direction, brought faithfully back to the stage with the help of Francesca Goodridge, leans into the dreamlike quality of Price’s script, Bevan moving between more serious recreations of his past and more fantastical moments representing significant changes to his life’s trajectory. Along with co-choreographers Steven Hoggett and Jesse Williams, Norris and Goodridge have crafted a dazzling array of sequences in which Nye’s emotions shape the world around him. Confusing and out of place on paper, the marvellous full-company performance of “Get Happy,” the very song playing on the ward’s radio as the play begins, demonstrates nicely how what little he is aware of of the room surrounding him bleeds into the memories of his greatest triumphs.

The sizeable ensemble cast multi-role as they traverse Nye Bevan’s life, all seamlessly moving from scared schoolchildren to powerful members of parliament, from frightened masses to doctors wary of losing their incomes, from moving furniture to taking a main role in any given scene. There are no weak links here, and the two non-Sheen actors staying firm in central roles are terrific. As Nye’s political colleague-turned-wife and his lifelong best friend, respectively, Sharon Small and Jason Hughes are totally captivating as they struggle to reconcile this beloved fixture of their lives with the soon-to-perish man before them.

Also very memorable is Kezrena James, effortlessly charming and genuinely warm in her dual role as both the nurse caring for an ailing Nye, and the sister who made so many sacrifices to support his ambitions. Unsurprisingly, the most affecting performance comes courtesy of our returning star, the spectacular Michael Sheen. Veering between the confusion of these jumbled memories and the sureness of purpose which made Nye Bevan such a successful figure, Sheen commands the stage with ease, and manages to keep the character charming and easy to root for without softening the annoying habits and grating tendencies which make others less than willing to engage with his ideas. In a large company rich with talent, Michael Sheen makes for a phenomenal leading man.

With hospital curtains and beds transforming into cabinet meeting rooms, schoolhouses, even the mines in which Nye’s father would develop black lung, Vicki Mortimer’s set is always effective and helps create the idea that we are following a semi-lucid man through dreams of his former glories. Even the heart monitor beeping away beside him is looped into the fantasy, with the ups and downs warping to become the irregular wall of a mine through the clever lighting design of Paul's Constable, aided by projection designer Jon Driscoll, whose work also creates a stirring, almost frightening moment in which Nye must debate the British Medical Association on the implementation of his new National Health Service.

Of course, Price, Norris, and everyone involved, is aware that Aneurin Bevan’s legacy runs far deeper than a performance can capture. After a final line that brought tears to my eyes, Nye’s curtain call ends with a moment of silence as Sheen remains onstage, back to the audience, reading as we do the following:

Within 10 years of the creation of the NHS infant mortality decreased by 50%.

Since its founding, life expectancy has increased by 12 years.

Every day 1.3 million people are treated, based on clinical need, not the ability to pay.

Perhaps some will find this manipulative, or cloying, trying to milk real-life changes for theatrical spectacle. Myself, I found it a touching final tribute, that Bevan and his work, and the ongoing work of medical professionals across the UK, were allowed to have that final moment of applause. Nye can be a touch too heartfelt for its own good, its dips into fantasy imagery that bit too whimsical for the serious subjects that must be approached. All of this is true, and plenty of viewers will find it overly sentimental.

I'm happy to say that for once in my life, I could see past my more sardonic, cynical thoughts to something genuinely joyful, and endlessly moving.

Nye plays at the Olivier Theatre until August 16th before returning to the Wales Millennium Centre from August 22nd

For tickets and information visit https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/nye/

Photos by Johan Persson